So long, Associated Press poll. Goodbye, Amway Coaches Poll. The only thing that truly matters in the race to the national championship is the College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Tuesday for the first time this season.Here is a look at those initial rankings:It cannot be stressed enough how fluid these standings are given how things played out last season.Of the teams ranked in the top four of last year's initial College Football Playoff rankings, only Florida State reached the playoff. Ohio State, which won the national championship, was all the way down at No. 16 with an ugly loss to Virginia Tech on its resume.That is to say: Don't worry too much if your team isn't on the inside track in this first batch of rankings, especially since so many of the top squads still have to play each other (such as the Buckeyes and Michigan State, Baylor and TCU, and LSU and Alabama).Naturally, the Twitter world reacted to the selection committee's first rankings.ESPN provided a glance at what the playoff would look like if it started today:Clemson at No. 1ahead of undefeated LSU from the SEC and undefeated and defending champion Ohio Statemay stand out to some. However, the Tigers beat No. 5 Notre Dame, and ESPN Stats & Info put their resume in perspective:Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports shared some insight from selection committee member Jeff Long regarding Clemson's No. 1 ranking:As for the Buckeyes, the third spot is much better than the No. 16 ranking they had last year. Ohio State doesn't have many quality wins on its schedule, but it does face No. 7 Michigan State and No. 17 Michigan at the end of the season, and Ben Axelrod of Bleacher Report noted it received some favor in these rankings:As for the Spartans,Axelrod said they were ranked too low and provided this rationalization:Another team that has an argument with its initial ranking is undefeated TCU. Paul Myerberg ofUSA Todayweighed in on the Horned Frogs and gave their fans some hope for the future:Mandel was not surprised with TCU's ranking:The Big 12 let everyone know just how much of a factor it will be the rest of the season, despite lower rankings than expected from TCU and Baylor:From a conference perspective, the Pac-12 is on the outside looking in. That is partially because teams such as Oregon and UCLA have underperformed, but Mandel noted the panic likely coming from the West Coast:ESPN's Danny Kanell believed Stanford deserved a better ranking given its on-field dominanceincludingdouble-digit victories over USC and UCLAfollowing a season-opening loss at Northwestern:Kanell also appeared to have a problem with two SEC teams in the top four:Part of the issue with Alabama at No. 4 is the fact it lost to Ole Miss. Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports wondered why the Crimson Tide received the benefit of the doubt:Luke Zimmermann of SB Nation had a response to the Alabama outcry:While the SEC may be in prime position now, LSU and Alabama play each other Saturday. That gives other teams, like No. 16 Florida State, an opportunity to move up if they take care of business. The Seminoles play the No. 1 Clemson Tigers on Saturday with a chance to make a profound statement.Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press noted Florida State is in the same spot Ohio State was in last season:The other intriguing storyline is the race for a New Year's Six bowl for teams outside the Power Five conferences. Undefeated Memphis has a win over No. 18 Ole Miss and checked in at No. 13. The Tigers are ahead of No. 22 Temple, No. 24 Toledo and No. 25 Houston.Myerberg seemed to think there is even a slight chance Memphis could jump into the top four:Even in a sport filled with as many twists and turns as college football, that would be a major shock.
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